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Thursday, 24 October 2013

Zone your home energy and cut your fuel bills

I'm of an age where I still remember watching in awe the gadgets of the future on Tomorrow's World. Where we were promised remote controlled living and robotic home help. Well, bonkers as some of the featured items were, by and large, we're here now and living that dream.

With the advent of wi-fi and smart phones, the possibilities are becoming a reality and today Honeywell, the heating specialist, announces evohome it's new concept in household heating management.

We've lived in our home for over two years now and have still yet to figure out our thermostat and heating control panel. We have a complicated affair installed for the previous occupants who worked away a lot. Internet searches and two boiler engineers have failed to crack it. Consequently, we're either freezing, or baking away and having to open the windows.

This is not sustainable! It's not easy on the wallet either, which is why I was so interested to hear about evohome. Basically it is a system which is installed alongside your existing central heating allowing you to zone your home into up to 12 different areas with independent settings.

As Jeremy Peterson, General Manager of Honeywell says "you don't have one light switch for your entire house, we believe you shouldn't control your heating with one single switch".

Honeywell estimate you could save up to 40% of your heating bills using this new system, and with fuel prices continually rising, this is welcome news.

For us, it means we could have different heating levels in our spare bedroom which is rarely used, compared to our bedroom. Ruby's bedroom is in a loft conversion, so being at the top of the house it gets warm through the natural rise of the house's heat. The new system would mean we could lower her radiator's temperature.

I work from home and in the winter I would expect to probably have the heating on during the day, but why heat the entire house when it's just me sitting in my tiny study?

The system can be controlled remotely via a smartphone, meaning you can switch it on as you journey home. If you're held up or stuck in traffic, you can delay the timed switch-on of your heating, meaning you're not wasting energy and money.

evohome also combines a raft of smart technology designed
to enhance your comfort. From understanding when a
window is left open and adapting your heating accordingly, to learning how a
house heats up and cools down throughout the year, evohome is not just a
thermostat but the “brains” of your home heating. Intuitive control functions mean
settings can easily be overridden when needed, delaying the heating coming on
when you arrive home late.

The product will be available in the New Year and will be priced around £250. It is designed to be easily installed without disruption to your home décor by one of
Honeywell’s recognised heating installers and comes in a range of colours. It
communicates wirelessly around the home and is guaranteed to fit most heating
systems, including those with stored hot water.

Disclosure: This is a featured post brought to you in association with Honeywell. Images are courtesy of Honeywell evohome.

Ooo nifty! I'm finding out all sorts of neat gadgets that I never knew existed now we are planning our extension next year - like a button you press that activates the water stop cock - who would have known?

oooh I would love to be able to turn on the heating from my phone. It could be popped on just as I am driving home. I am terrible for turning the heating up, especially on my days off when i'm home by myself.

This sounds AWESOME! We have a knackered old Victorian terrace, mostly cold but with the odd hot spot. My husband is apparently allergic to having the heating on so this would work really well for keeping the loungs and our room cool and the babies rooms warm. Having said that, we still haven't figured out how to work the timer on our boiler and have to turn the heating on and off manually. This might make his head explode!

Oooh I'd be well interested in that little gadget. I reckon it would slash energy bills by at least what it costs, well worth the investment. Today is the first time I've really had the heating on. Bbbrrrrrrrr.